


Never Count The Stars

by flowerslut



Series: Changing Skies Series [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Sequel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-17
Updated: 2016-01-18
Packaged: 2018-04-21 04:45:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4815563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowerslut/pseuds/flowerslut
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Because some things are better left forgotten. SasuSaku. Sequel to Changing Skies. Rated M for future content.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_The kunai felt far too heavy in her hands, the hard metal cold against her skin. She tried hard to keep her hands steady, she truly did, but she knew that her hesitation would become apparent one way or another if she wasn’t careful._

_The red-haired woman before her continued to struggle for breath, sucking in air desperately through bloodied lips into damaged lungs. Sakura knew that whoever this was didn’t have long before she died—the medic in her was screaming like a madwoman—she had to help this girl and quickly._

_The hairs on the back of her neck rose as Sasuke walked behind her and out of sight, a shiver of uneasiness coursed through her. She had to act fast; she had to act now._

_But it happened too quickly for her to fully react properly._

_She gripped the kunai tightly in her hands, mind made up, but before she could turn the kunai on Sasuke the air suddenly felt dry. Hot static gathered around her and when a spark ignited behind her back—the sound almost concealed by the dying woman’s plea, “Sasuke, don’t do it”—she only had enough time to turn her head before she saw him._

_The blacks of his eyes were cold and hollow as he thrusted his chidori-laced hand toward her, aiming toward her head with no hesitation. It was an aim to kill, she knew without a doubt, and with the speed of his attack it was unlikely she would be able to dodge in time._

_Sasuke was going to kill her._

_Just as the thought flitted through her mind and before she could brace herself for the impact, everything went black._

.

.

.

She woke up with a gasp, her hands flying upward to firmly grip her throat.

 _Breathe,_ she commanded of herself, _breathe, now._

Her breaths came quickly afterward in sharp, hurried pants as she struggled to take in as much air as she could. Eyes darting around, she wanted to cry in relief when she recognized the hospital bed she was lying in. The sun was shining brightly through the blinds in her hospital room and she could tell that there was an incredibly nice day just waiting for her on the other side of the window.

She was home, in Konoha, in the hospital.

Lowering herself back down so that she was resting comfortably, she continued to focus on her breathing. In and out. In and out. She was home. She was in Konoha. She was _safe_.

Tears sprang to her eyes as she desperately tried to soothe herself. But as she closed her eyelids shut the only image she could find waiting for her was of Sasuke.

Sharingan red and bleeding as he aimed his chidori straight at her head.

Opening her eyes back up quickly she attempted to swallow the heavy lump in her throat but to no avail. Lifting her hands once more she ran her fingertips across her cheeks, letting them flutter over her entire face before sinking and running over the entirety of her neck and chest.

She was fine. Uninjured and without scars. Perhaps Sasuke had missed.

Head pounding tightly she placed her fingers at her temples and began to massage the muscles. She didn’t remember. She needed to remember. _Something_ must’ve happened in order for her to be alive right now.  In all honestly she should be dead right now; something had undoubtedly happened. There was no way she would’ve been able to survive that attack.

And at that thought, the tears that she’d been holding back finally fell freely.

It was true. Sasuke had tried to kill her. Genuinely and without hesitation.

Just picturing the empty, awful look in his eyes as he thrusted his arm out toward her made a sob slip past her lips. That hadn’t been her Sasuke-kun.

He was gone.

And she didn’t understand.

Although it didn’t matter if she did or didn’t, the truth remained the same: _Sasuke had tried to kill her._

Weakly, she placed her hands against her face, as if hiding the pain—the pain that was so evident just by looking at her—from the outside world. And with her head in her hands all she could do was cry.

The hole in her chest that used to merely ache at the thought of him was now saturated with a sharp, piercing burn, swallowing her heart whole and making breathing difficult. So engulfed with her grief, she began to cough, her sobs coming out as sad, pitiful noises with every croak.

When the door opened and she felt footsteps rush up to her bedside, she rubbed the tears from her eyes, not wanting anyone to see her in this state. She hoped it was Naruto or Kakashi. Maybe even her parents or Ino. Someone who could comfort her without judgement. Someone who could tell her what had happened, and why she was still alive.

When she wiped the moisture from her face and dared to look up at whoever was leaning over her in bed, she couldn’t contain the bloodcurdling scream that ripped itself out of her throat.

Staring back at her was none other than Uchiha Sasuke himself.

In the same second it took her to inhale a sharp gasp, she’d reached out to her side and grabbed an IV pole with one hand, and ripped one of the metal bars from the side of the bed with her other. In the next second she’d swung the pole at him, successfully striking him right where his shoulder met his neck.

Not letting her shock over the fact that she’s actually struck him take over, she lifted her legs and shifted them towards him, before using his chest as a spring board to launch herself across the room. Landing clumsily, the pole and bar still in each of her hands, she braced her back against the wall and inhaled deeply.

“Sakura! What—“

“ _HELP!_ ” The shout was so loud that it was deafening even to her own ears, leaving her throat feeling raw and strained. “ _SOMEBODY! HELP!”_

The sound of his voice sent shivers through her. As she stared at him through tear-filled eyes, nearly shaking out of fear, she could only feel her adrenaline surge, seeing him on the ground sitting where he’d landed after Sakura had kicked him to launch herself away.

As she gathered breath to release another scream, a pair of medical ninja that she didn’t recognize flew through the door, eyes wide and stances defensive. Sakura had no idea who these people were; where were the regularly staffed medics? Who were these people? She _was_ in Konoha, wasn’t she? The unfamiliar faces caused her panic to increase tenfold.

“Sakura-san,” one of the medics approached her briskly, their brow furrowed. “What’s the matter? Are you—“

Before they could reach her, Sakura turned around as quickly as possible and, without hesitation, smashed through the window. Jumping onto the roof, she immediately abandoned the IV pole, choosing to hold onto the much sturdier metal bar from the hospital bed. If it came down to it, she was sure she could use it successfully as a weapon, even breaking it into pieces to use as makeshift kunai if she needed to.

She felt him before she saw him, but when Sasuke jumped out of the window after her, she began to run before he even hit the roof of the hospital.

Escape was the only thought running through her mind as she sprinted over rooftops and between buildings. This clearly wasn’t Konoha; it was far too developed, the buildings tall and plentiful. She was sure this village had maybe five times the population that Konoha had, possibly more.

Jumping to another rooftop, her foot landed on a slick patch of tiles, causing her to stumble forward. But before she could fall, someone was in front of her, arms holding her up. Immediately she knew it was Sasuke; the long-sleeved, dark shirt in front of her eyes and the black hair she could see in her periphery confirmed it.

Swinging her ‘weapon’ swiftly, Sakura attempted to hit him behind his knees with it, hoping to set him off balance. But he swiftly blocked the attack, shifting to the side and grabbing the bar with a hand, quickly ripping it from her grip.

At the feeling of being disarmed, Sakura couldn’t help but scream, her terror seizing her.

This was it, he was going to kill her. He hadn’t succeeded before for some reason, but here he was now, about to finish the job.

“Let me _go_!” She screeched, pushing against him desperately. She was too overwhelmed and hysterical to even think straight.

“Sakura!” He shouted at her, “stop! What are you doing? Look at me. Sakura, _look at me_.”

“Get _off of me_!” She wailed, suddenly overcome with frenzied sobs, shaking her body and freezing her legs up completely. “Get away from me! Naruto!” She screamed, “Kakashi-sensei! Somebody! _Help me_!”

He tensed as she screamed for help, but he didn’t relinquish his hold on her. Nausea suddenly began to build up within her, and immediately she thought she was going to vomit or pass out. All she wanted was for him to let her go. To go away. To leave her alone and to not hurt her.

“Please,” she sobbed as she struggled against him in vain, “please don’t kill me.”

“Sakura-chan!”

Finally, with one final shove, she was able to knock Sasuke away from her, long enough for her to run blindly into Naruto’s arms. Thank god, he was here, which meant she was safe. Naruto would protect her from him.

But instead of shoving her behind him or holding her tightly and uttering reassuring words, he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her firmly.

“Sakura-chan, what’s going on? What happened? Calm down, okay?”

“Get me out of here!” She screeched, her mind screaming an entirely different set of words. _Don’t you see? Don’t you see that Sasuke-kun is here? He tried to kill me, Naruto. He tried to_ kill _me! Help me! Don’t let him kill me!_

“What? Why? Sakura-chan,” he shook her a bit more firmly this time, “look at me. _Sakura_!”

Lifting her head, blinking back her tears, she jumped upon sight of him. Why was he so tall? When had he gotten his hair cut? And god, he looked so _tired_. What had happened between the time she’d lost consciousness and now? And where _were_ they?

“Where are we?” her voice was hurried, the nausea becoming increasingly more difficult to disregard.

“We’re in Konoha, Sakura. You’re home. You’re safe. Just breathe, you’re okay—“

“NO!” She shouted, grabbing his arm and attempting to pull him away from Sasuke. “Do you not see? Sasuke-kun is right there!” The tears were building up again, and her throat was incredibly sore as she forced more frantic words out. “He’s trying to kill me! I—I need to get out of here…”

Once it was clear that Naruto wasn’t going to help her, she turned and tried to run, knowing that she couldn’t afford to clear up Naruto’s confusion when the man who was trying to kill her was literally steps away.

But Naruto instead caught her arm and yanked her toward him. Wrapping his arms around her, he held her tightly, her back pressed against his chest. She struggled frantically, but found herself unable to move at all.

Why was Naruto stopping her? Were he and Sasuke working together? What the _hell_ had happened while she was unconscious?!

This was a nightmare. That was the only explanation that made sense. This had to be a nightmare. Probably the worst one she’d ever had.

“Let go of me, Naruto! I have to get home! I have to get back to Konoha. Don’t—don’t you dare let him touch me! Why are you helping him?! What—“

“Sakura!” Naruto yelled into her ear, so loud that it left a faint ringing noise echoing in the back of her head. “We are in Konoha! Look!”

He immediately turned her to the left slightly, allowing her to get a good look of the Hokage mountain.

She gasped.

Right next to Tsunade-sama’s face was Naruto’s, carved proudly into the rock, overlooking the village alongside all the other Hokage.

“This is a dream,” she choked out in realization. The confirmed fact allowed a slight pang of relief to subdue her, but her fear was still as potent as ever. Even though she knew it was a nightmare didn’t make it any less scary. “This is a dream.”

“You aren’t dreaming, Sakura,” Sasuke spoke slowly as he stepped into her line of sight. She couldn’t hold in her gasp as she leaned further into Naruto, wanting to be far, far away in that moment. “You’re okay. You’re home. You’re safe.”

“How can I be safe if you’re around?” she spat, her voice full of venom. Knowing she was in a dream and wasn’t in real danger of being hurt made her boldness return with full force. “You tried to _kill_ me! You’re—you’re awful! You’re hardly the Sasuke-kun I knew,” she cried, the pain in her chest throbbing in sync with the beating of your heart. “You’re changed, you’re—you’re _vile_!”

The dream seemed to be turning directions in her favor; this fucked-up, backwards version of a possible future. As true, genuine shock and pain flashed across his face and through his eyes, she wanted to laugh. The real Sasuke would never let this type of emotion display clearly. But this dream-Sasuke’s show of emotion made a sick, hateful part of her burn with satisfaction.

“Sakura…” Behind her, Naruto seemed shocked and standing before her Sasuke seemed to be at a loss for words. “How old are you?”

“What are you talking about?” she asked, so tired of screaming and struggling and crying. She just wanted to wake up, she couldn’t take this anymore.

“What year is it?” He demanded from her, “How old are you?”

“It’s year 65,” she snaps at him, “I’m sixteen! Why does this matter!?”

She doesn’t see as much as _feel_ Naruto and Sasuke exchange glances over her head. “Sakura,” Naruto speaks again slowly, his voice much calmer, “no it’s not. It’s year 77… you’re just turned twenty-nine last month…”

“Shut up,” she grumbled, closing her eyes and shaking her head, “I want to wake up now.” Tears began to slip out from her eyes despite her attempts to keep them at bay. “I want to wake up.”

“You _are_ awake, Sakura-chan.”

Without warning the nausea overtook her senses, so when she vomited within seconds of speaking, she couldn’t help but allow her weak legs to give way, the only thing holding her up being Naruto firm grip on her.

_You are awake, Sakura. You are awake. You’re awake. This is not a dream._

With one final look at Sasuke’s defeated, helpless form, her head began to pound, and she felt her consciousness slip away.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Before she could open her eyes, she knew she was under sedation. The heaviness in her limbs was equal to the heaviness in her eyelids and despite regaining consciousness there was a strange dizziness she could feel that was much different than her earlier nausea.

Allowing for several minutes to pass before forcing open her eyes gave her enough time to try and calm herself. She had desperately hoped that it had been a dream, but somehow she knew that it was far from the truth.

Forcing her breathing to remain steady and attempting to keep her anxiety and confusion under control, she opened her eyes, looking around the room only to find it entirely unrecognizable.

Sakura knew this hospital inside and out, so for her to be inside a room that she didn’t recognize—with no windows, she noted—made her feel much more uncomfortable than she already was with the situation. Perhaps she wasn’t in the hospital at all? But if that was the case then where was she?

If Naruto had been telling her the truth… then she _could_ still be in the hospital. Or perhaps even in some new futuristic-type hospital.

She couldn’t stop herself from wondering if she had any hand in what happened around the hospital in… this time period she appeared to be in.

This was all too much. There was no way that she was almost thirteen years ahead of where she was supposed to be. Perhaps she had had some sort of hallucination. It would make sense as to why she couldn’t remember what had happened after Sasuke had attacked her.

And with the thought of Sasuke, tears sprang into her eyes and she allowed her heavy eyelids to close once more. His presence had definitely been a hallucination. A vivid one. Because Sasuke would never be in this village, and he would seemingly _never_ give a damn about her.

One day she would’ve hoped for that outcome, but now she knew it was simply an impossibility. Something that didn’t make any sense.

Eyes opening once more she allowed them to flicker over toward the monitors. Well, at least she could identify them, so they didn’t seem to have any strange machines hooked up to her.

Sitting up she was almost surprised to find herself free of restraints. Not that they’d be able to stop her, but still, it was protocol for _certain_ patients; although she didn’t looked like she was in a psych ward.

She wanted someone to come and talk to her. She needed someone now, because despite the medications she could feel in her system repressing her anxiety, she knew that once they wore off she was going to be a nervous wreck.

Instead, at the moment she felt calm. A little sad, very tired, and completely confused. Thoughts of Sasuke lazily flew through her mind and she attempted to distract herself by simply examining the room. Finding a call button for the nurse she quickly pressed it a couple of times and sat, impatiently waiting.

Several minutes passed before the door finally opened—poor timing if it had been any other patient, she realized with mild dissatisfaction—and through it walked some familiar, yet slightly different, faces.

“Ino, Naruto,” she breathed out in relief, sitting herself up. Despite her unease with Naruto—she was immediately reminded of the way he’d restrained her and forced her to look at Sasuke—she was incredibly happy to see them. When Ino approached, she couldn’t help but throw her arms around her and cling to her tightly. Tears immediately began to fall.

“I’m so happy to see you,” she cried, a laugh escaping as she embraced her friend, “I think I’m losing my mind.”

She was happy to hear Ino laugh in reply and hug her back. “Yeah, I heard. That’s why I’m here, crazy.” Despite the obvious dig at her mental state, Sakura couldn’t help but grin. The familiarity of conversing with Ino was easily calming her down.

When she pulled away, she continued holding onto Ino’s arms, eyeing her up and down. “What the hell, Pig?”

Ino raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“You look so good. I’m mad.” Studying her face, something seemed to click in her head. “God, you _do_ look older. But like, not even in a bad way. This is so lame! What the hell…”

The blonde woman rolled her eyes. “That’s because I’m in my twenties. _We’re_ in our twenties.”

“There’s no way. I literally do not believe you.”

Ino turned toward Naruto and nodded. So when he handed her a mirror, Sakura’s stomach jumped into her throat. She knew exactly what was about to happen.

But even though she was anticipating it, she still gasped loudly when Ino held the mirror up to her, showing Sakura her very own face.

“Oh, my god…” Lifting her hands, she ran her fingers lightly over her cheeks, her nose, her neck, before they rose up and landed on her forehead, where a deep violet diamond seal was branded into her skin. “No way.”

“You only unlocked that a few years ago.” Naruto finally spoke up, sitting on the edge of the bed and staring at her with a serious look. “But that doesn’t matter. Do you believe us now?”

Sakura ignored them for a few seconds, studying her face closely. Licking her thumb she rubbed it against the diamond, hard, as if entirely convinced it was nothing more than marker drawn on her head as a prank. But when it was clear that it was truly branded into her skin, her chest began to swell happily.

“I did it,” she smiled, her joy overflowing. With the happiness of her accomplishment coursing through her, she examined the rest of her face. And much like Ino, she certainly looked older, but not in a bad way.

Her face was mature, much more angular than it was the last time she looked into her mirror. All of the roundness of her cheeks had faded, any remnants of childhood gone from her expression. She was a grown woman, and she looked the part.

“Sakura?” Ino asked, pulling her out of her thoughts. Sakura looked up to see her friend smiling crookedly at her. “You can be vain later, right now we have things to talk about.”

“Okay,” she nodded, still dazed as she lowered the mirror in her lap. Her eyes the flickered to Naruto and immediately she laughed. “Naruto,” she placed a hand over her mouth, “I’m sorry but you’re looking rough.” She laughed again, “I like your haircut though!”

He frowned, his lower lip protruding slightly, his shoulders deflating a bit. Sakura only laughed louder; Naruto may have been older, but he still pouted the same way he always had.

“That’s ‘Hokage-sama’ to you,” he grumbled, folding his arms over his chest. “But seriously, we’ll talk about that later.”

“Hopefully, we won’t _need_ to talk about that later.” Ino spoke, removing the black gloves that Naruto hadn’t noticed she’d been wearing. Taking another step toward Sakura, she placed one hand flat against her forehead, and another on the crown of her head. “Right now, I need to take a look around here. See what’s going on.” As Ino closed her eyes, Sakura turned back toward Naruto, swallowing thickly.

“So what? Do you think I have amnesia?”

“Definitely,” Naruto nodded. “You were originally in the hospital because you’d been injured on a mission. You were unconscious when your team brought you back yesterday, but physically you were fine, other than some chakra depletion and a pretty nasty concussion.” He laughed lightly, “That was the first time you’ve been hurt in _years_. You should’ve seen Sasuke’s face when they—“

Sakura stiffened immediately at the mention of Sasuke and to his credit, Naruto noticed immediately.

“Eh,” he scratched his head and smiled apologetically, “sorry. I know that you aren’t… reacting to him well.”

“Why is he here?” She demanded, trying to fight back the fear that was pulsing through her. “What is he _doing_ here?” She asked louder.

“Sakura,” Ino muttered, eyes still closed and hands on her head, “quiet down.”

“You’ve forgotten a lot, it seems.” Naruto sighed. “Tell me what the last thing you remember is.”

“I was in Iron Country, I found Sasuke, and before I could attack him he tried to kill me.”

Naruto didn’t even try to hide his frustration at her words, even swearing multiple times as he rubbed his temples. “Fuck. Okay. That explains things.” He struggled to find some words for a few seconds, chewing on his lip. “Sasuke is back in the village—“

“I can see that,” Sakura deadpanned. She just wanted Naruto to cut to the chase. “Why?”

“He’s okay now, Sakura-chan,” Naruto spoke softly, “he’s okay now. Different. Good. He’s not a threat to anyone now. Not you, not me, not Konoha. I promise.”

The revelation caused Sakura’s breath to entirely exit her body. These were words she’d wanted to hear for years now. For so long, Sakura dreamed of the day where Sasuke would return. And hearing that he was _okay_ and that he was, in no way, a threat or enemy to them, made emotion overwhelm her. But despite wanting this for so long now, she couldn’t find herself excited over the revelation. If anything, it just made her more scared, more nervous.

“He tried to kill me,” she whispered, staring at her hands. Images of her poisoned kunai flashed through her mind. “I tried to stab him. And he—he wanted me dead. I could see it in his eyes, Naruto. He wanted me _dead_.” She could still hear the sound of the chidori ringing in her ears.

“Just wait,” he spoke quietly, reaching out and taking her hand within his. “You’ll be okay in a couple minutes. Just let Ino fix you.”

But after a few minutes passed, and a few more, and many, many after that, Ino still did not take her hands off her head or back away.

She was sure almost half an hour had passed before the woman finally opened her eyes and backed away. Looking into her frustrated eyes, Sakura’s heart sank.

“You can’t fix me?”

She huffed, “I checked first to see if it was a jutsu or something that an enemy did to you. But it seems just like it’s a case of retrograde amnesia. A really, really rare case.”

“Well, how long am I supposed to be like this!?” She asked, panic welling up within her. She couldn’t be stuck like this, stuck as a sixteen year old in a grown woman’s body. She needed to know what happened. She needed those years, and whatever happened during them, back.

“Calm down. Your memory could return in hours or even days. Worst case, you’re like this for a few weeks or months. But retrograde amnesia rarely ever lasts longer than a few months.”

“ _Months_?” Both Naruto and Sakura spoke at the same time.

“You mean you can’t fix her brain?” Naruto asked with wide eyes.

Ino shook her head. “I tried to repair any damage—which I did—and I hoped that it would jog her memory or just release the hold it has on them—which it didn’t—so now we have to wait.” Ino sighed, seemingly just as frustrated and defeated as the other occupants of the room. “On the plus side, I fixed your concussion.”

“Thanks,” Sakura muttered insincerely.

“We’ll have to run some tests, examine your brain activity more thoroughly and get a record of it. I couldn’t detect any permanent brain damage, but any scans should catch anything I may have missed.” Ino placed a gentle hand on Sakura’s shoulder. “Your memories will come back, okay? I promise. It’s just going to take some time.”

“Okay,” she nodded, her fingers rubbing the hospital blanket between her fingers. “So when do I get out of here?”

Ino and Naruto exchanged glances.

“Well, the scans and tests should be finished by the end of the day, but we’ll want to keep you for observations tonight. So _at least_ another day or so.” Blowing some hair out of her face, Ino placed her hands on her hips. “Maybe longer. We’ll just have to wait and see. It would be better if we could figure out a way to get you your memory—or at least _some_ memories—back before we release you. So that’s what the focus will be for however much longer you’re here.”

“This is frustrating.”

Ino spared her an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Forehead. I’ll be back in a little while, okay?” she spoke softly, picking up a clipboard and scribbling a few things onto it. “I’m just going to schedule your tests and get everything put together.” And with another smile, she exited the room, leaving the two alone.

“Well, this blows,” flopping back onto her bed Sakura stared with frustration up at the ceiling. Eyeing Naruto from where he sat on the edge of her bed. “Are you allowed to tell me things about the future—or I guess about now, technically—or is that not allowed?”

Naruto shrugged. “No one’s specifically told me not to, but I don’t want Ino yelling at me.”

“Damn,” Sakura deadpanned. “These stupid memories better come back quickly, because I am _not_ in the mood to deal with stupid amnesia right now.”

Naruto only laughed at her statement, the sound causing her to feel a little better. But even as she allowed his warm company to distract her, the memory of blood red eyes and crackling electricity was still haunting her.

* * *

 

The next few days passed horribly slowly, and by the end of the third day of her stay in the hospital, Sakura just about had enough.

“This is the most boring, inconvenient thing that has ever happened to me in my entire life,” she grumbled into her pillow. The sun had gone down a couple of hours ago and by all means she should be preparing to sleep, but over the past few days her frustration had begun to get the better of her. With no contact to the outside world, no knowledge of what the current world was like, and absolutely no information about her future— _current_ , she had to keep thinking—self she was running short on patience.

Naruto, who was sitting comfortably in a chair near the foot of her bed, his feet propped up on the edge of the bed, laughed. “Sorry I’m not better company.”

“It’s clear that I’m not going to remember anything while I’m just here sitting in this room,” she ranted, completely ignoring Naruto’s quip. “Why not just let me out of here and let nature take it’s course?”

Naruto scoffed. “It’s not that easy, Sakura-chan. It’s been thirteen years. Lots of stuff has happened; complicated, weird stuff.”

Turning her face into the pillow she let out a half-hearted groan. “I just want to _know_ already!” As she complained she heard the sound of the door opening and upon hearing Ino’s voice, she lifted her head.

“She complaining again?” Ino asked Naruto, walking him and slapping his feet off of the bed.

“Please tell me some good news,” Sakura begged overdramatically, sitting herself upward, facing her two blonde friends.

“By good news you mean ‘tell me what I want to hear’?”

Sakura shrugged. “Well, can I get out of here yet?”

“We’re discharging you tomorrow,” Ino informed her, but before Sakura could say anything, she held up a hand, “but don’t get too worked up over it yet. You still have a lot of stuff you need to know.”

“Finally,” she grumbled, a hint of a smile on her face. “And that’s good. Just tell me what I need to know so I can get out of here.” When Ino grabbed her arm to test her blood pressure, Sakura let her.

The tall woman was silent for a couple of minutes as she took Sakura’s vitals. Despite it not being awkward, the silence began to slowly unnerve her, her initial excitement beginning to ebb. Sakura’s anxiety had been through the roof over the past few days, her only comfort lying in the hope that her memory would be jogged and she’d be back to normal. But nothing had happened and no progress had been made, meaning she’d have to learn about her life the hard way: piece by piece while being thrown into a world she didn’t recall.

Ino turned toward Naruto, momentarily ignoring Sakura’s presence. “I have to get some things done now, do you want to wait for me to finish or…”

Naruto shook his head and waved a dismissive hand toward the woman. “No, no. I got this. Go do what you need to do.”

Finally looking at Sakura, she spoke again, biting her lip and looking far too apprehensive for Sakura’s liking. “If you have… any questions about anything Naruto is telling you when I get back, I’ll answer them for you.”

“Okay, thanks.” Sakura spoke a little too quickly, nearly squirming in her seat. “See you.” And with a wave, Ino turned and left the room.

“I’m going to need to talk to you about a lot of things,” Naruto added, his expression stern, making him appear even more tired than he already looked.  Standing up he abandoned his chair to sit on the edge of her bed. “Important things.”

“I know. About me, right?”

Naruto nodded. “And about your life.”

“Can we do that now then? I just want to get this over with.” She asked restlessly, swallowing the thickness in her throat. There was a strange hysteria welling upside her. What did she do with her life now? It was clear from her initial injury that she went on missions, but what kind of missions? Was she a jounin? Did she have a genin team? Or was she merely a medic that got assigned to random teams who needed one?

Did she still live with her parents? Oh god, she hoped not, as much as she loved them.

“I… guess we can just jump right into it then.” He rubbed his neck, and by his body language it was clear he was not the person who wanted to do this, despite his assurance to Ino less than a minute prior.

Sakura turned toward Naruto and inhaled deeply, exhaling slowly. “Okay. Question,” she licked her lips, “how long have you been Hokage?”

Naruto gave her a half-grin, “Since we were nineteen.”

“Nice,” she smiled widely at him, so genuinely excited for him that she could only hope he could sense her happiness for him. “You deserve it, you pain in the ass.”

He laughed, “I’m pretty sure you said something very similar to that when I was inaugurated, too.”

She laughed along with him, simply because interacting with Naruto had always been so effortless for her. She was so happy he was here with her, and that he’d be the one telling her these things.

Taking in the sight of her friend, older and—assumedly—wiser, when her eyes spotted something on his left hand, she gasped.

“Naruto!” Reaching forward, she grabbed his hand, holding it up for him to see. His gold wedding band glinted in the light. “How did I not see this before!? You’re married!”

“Yep!” He nodded. “For eight years now.”

“Who did you—no wait, let me guess.” He laughed but she leaned forward, looking at him with narrowed eyes. “They’re from Konoha, right?”

“Yes.”

“Do I know them?”

“Of course.”

“They graduated with us, didn’t they?” A smile began to creep onto her face when Naruto confirmed it. She had a feeling she knew exactly which one of her friends it was. “So, did Hinata take your name or no?”

He smiled, “Sort of. Hyuuga-Uzumaki doesn’t exactly flow too well, but she wanted to have both.”

Sakura couldn’t contain the girlish scream that she released as she clapped her hands happily. “I knew it I knew it I _knew_ it! God, she’s liked you for forever.”

“So I heard.”

“What about Ino? Is she married?”

“Oh, you’re never going to guess who she married. And before you ask, yes you know him.”

She paused, thinking to herself. She figured using a process of elimination would help her out. “Who _didn’t_ get married?”

“Kiba, Shino, uh, Chouji’s not married _yet_ , but he gets married at the end of the summer. So he doesn’t count. And Shikamaru isn’t married but he and Temari might as well be.”

“It’s not Sai, is it…?” Naruto only grinned widely at her. “Shut up. Shut up! You’re lying. You’ve got to be lying!” As she yelled at him, she sat up, tucking her feet under her and sitting on them. “There’s no way.”

“If you don’t believe me, you can ask Ino when she gets back.” He leaned back on his hands. “This is honestly the funniest conversation I’ve had with anyone in years.”

Sakura rolled her eyes, “I guess I should get amnesia more often then, huh?”

“If you wouldn’t mind,” he snickered.

“Glad I can be so entertaining.” She leaned back on her hands, too, mimicking Naruto’s pose. “Do you and Hinata have any kids?” When he nodded, she couldn’t hold back her squeal. “You better have pictures!” She pointed a stern finger at him. So when he reached into his back pocket, she couldn’t help but bounce where she sat. The adrenaline coursing through her body was simply intoxicating, and paired with the fact that she was learning all about her friends future lives— _current_ lives, she corrected herself again, _current_ —made her feel a type of giddiness she’d never before experienced.

 “It’s kind of an old one—“

Quickly grabbing the picture out of his hands, she pulled it to her face, sitting up straighter as she looked at it. She gasped at the sight, placing her hand over her mouth. “Naruto,” she was smiling behind her hand, “they’re _adorable_.”

“Kenji is six and Seiji is three,” he spoke, pointing to each of his children. Both of the boys had byakugan, just like their mother. The older of the two had dark hair, but beside that he mostly resembled Naruto. The younger one had blonde hair and was the spitting image of the Hokage that sat beside her, only without the whisker-marks—bare cheeks, just like his older brother.

The picture was taken around wintertime, judging by the decorative surroundings. The toddler sat in his older brother’s lap smiling sweetly. The older one, Kenji, held onto his brother tightly, the picture seemingly catching him mid-laugh.

“They’re beautiful,” she whispered, tears in her eyes. She eyed him, noticing the other pictures he had in his hand. “Do you have more?”

Reaching forward, she grabbed a small stack of wallet-sized pictures out of his hand and began to flip through them before he could stop her. A couple of baby pictures of his sons were there, mixed in with a few small-sized family portraits; her eyes lingered on Hinata’s face in these and she felt her smile widen. One of the last pictures was a group photo of a handful of children. She could easily identify Naruto’s two children, but there were also four other children in the photos.

She could identify what she assumed to be Shikamaru and Temari’s son—he looked _exactly_ like her old friend and his large, green eyes were definitely Temari’s—who was the only one not smiling in the photo. He looked as if he were probably four years old, _max_ , as he pouted at someone who was standing behind the camera.

The smallest was a little boy that didn’t look much older than Naruto’s youngest. His hair and eyes were all Ino’s but Sakura almost swore to herself when she realized that, feature-wise, the baby looked _exactly_ like Sai. And then her eyes wandered toward the last two children.

There was a girl who was much older than the rest, who looked like she could be a young teenager. Sakura couldn’t see her directly since her head was turned and she was speaking to a baby perched on her hip, pointing toward the camera as if to get the child to look. She had long, dark hair that fell past her shoulders, and Sakura could just barely see a hint of dark eyes just past her side-bangs.

But it wasn’t the sight of the girl that rendered her speechless; it was the baby. What caught Sakura’s eye before anything else was his dusty, pink hair that messily stuck out from his small head as he turned to face away from the camera.

When Naruto snatched the pile of pictures back out of her hand, she allowed him, her eyes staring blankly ahead of her. The only image that was swimming through her mind was of the child with the chalky pink hair.

It took her a few seconds before she looked up at him only to meet his anticipatory gaze.

“Is that my… my…” but for some reason she couldn’t say the words. Suddenly her mouth felt incredibly dry.

Naruto sighed, running a hand down his face. “You weren’t supposed to see that yet,” he muttered lowly, swearing to himself under his breath. “But yeah, they’re both yours.”

 _Both_.

“Wait. What do you mean, both?” The thought of having one child was enough for her, but two? She’d only seen the little boy with the pink hair, who else in that picture could’ve been her child…

Her eyes widened with realization. The girl. With the dark hair and dark eyes. Holding what was undoubtedly her other child. The tall, older girl who looked so much like someone else she knew…

As the pieces fell into place, all the breath flew from her lungs, the blood draining from her face. There was no way. Suddenly she felt like she was in another dream; nothing felt real.

And with another sigh he handed the picture back over to her. Robotically she accepted it back, although it took her a long moment before she could force herself to look back down at it.

“That is Katahana and Souta. They’re your children.”

* * *

 

Staring down at the picture, she felt her whole body tense up for a few seconds before all the tightness seemed to slowly drain from her body. Her eyes flickered back and forth between their faces, trying to commit everything she saw to memory.

She may have had no memory of her two children—and as far as she knew only hours ago, she had been sixteen and in the middle of a fight for her life—but the swell of emotion she felt in her chest was undoubtedly a maternal feeling, something she couldn’t even begin to explain, let alone understand.

Katahana and Souta. Her children. Her _children_. God, she couldn’t believe that she was a mother. Again, she wanted to remember, she wished she could remember, and despite the fact that her condition was caused through no fault of her own, she felt disgustingly guilty.

She had children that she couldn’t remember.

 _What kind of mother_ am _I_?

“How old is this picture?” Sakura blurted out, unable to find any other words to speak. She was surprised that she was even able to say that much; she was sure that she’d stopped breathing entirely, she didn’t know when the breath of air had collected in her lungs.

“This is the most recent picture we have of all of them. It was at Hana’s birthday party last month.”

“How old is she?” She spoke again, seeming to find her voice easier this time. “How old are they both?”

“Hana is twelve and Souta is…” he paused for a few seconds and Sakura wanted to hit him—how could he be her friend and _not_ know how old her child was?! “Seventeen months old.” Upon seeing her irritated expression. “No, _no_. Don’t you dare look at me like that. You always correct me when I call him ‘one’. You’re not allowed to give me that look. It’s your fault I had to do that math.”

Sakura let it go easily, just taken aback with how young her second child was, and how _old_ her first one was.

“Katahana--” she paused to correct herself, “Hana is twelve? How is that possible? I was only _seventeen_ twelve years ago.” Just the idea of her being a teenage mother sounded ridiculous to her own ears. There’s no way that she would ever—

The nausea hit her just as a terrifying thought flew through her head.

“Sasuke,” she whispered, alarmed, “he’s her father. He has to be. She looks just like him. Sasuke is her father isn’t he?” She looked up at Naruto with eyes wide and full of unshed tears. “Isn’t he?!”

“Yes, he is. Sakura, calm down—”

“What happened after he attacked me Naruto?” She asked, picture forgotten on the bed as she leaned forward and grabbed his hands tightly. “You have to tell me. What happened? What did he—did he do anything? Did he—did he--?”

“Sakura, you need to breathe.” He instructed, lifting her hands and placing them on top of her head. “Slowly, breathe. What are you trying to say? Breathe.”

But she couldn’t breathe. Her panic was overwhelming her. Just the thought that Sasuke was Hana’s father, and knowing that her last memory of Sasuke was of him trying to kill her, made her mind jump to sickening conclusions.

“He—he—what did he do to me? He didn’t—please tell me he didn’t…”

Naruto’s eyes widened as he wrapped his arms around her. “Sakura-chan. No, _no_. Never. God, don’t think that, okay? He would never do that.” He held her tightly, running his hand over her head soothingly. Sakura was so thankful Naruto had understood; she didn’t think she would’ve been able to get the question out without breaking down.

“He didn’t do anything like that to you, Sakura. I promise. He would never, ever do anything like that.”

“He tried to kill me,” she whimpered, clinging to him as she gasped, sucking in as much air as possible as her relief flooded through her. “I just—what would’ve stopped him from—“

“ _No_ ,” his voice was so stern, so loud, that Sakura jumped, lifting a hand and placing it over her mouth. “Sakura. I know that for you, that day happened just yesterday, but for us—for Sasuke—that day was years ago. Lots of things have happened, I…” he sighed, “I can’t explain it all to you. You have to hear it all for him. There’s only so much I know. But that day, way back then, Kakashi stopped him before he hurt you. Kakashi fought him, you healed Karin, and when you tried attacking him again, he attacked you back. I saved you that time.” He squeezed her tightly before pulling out of the embrace. “You left Iron Country completely unharmed that day. Well, physically,” he added with a small grimace. “You were alright. He didn’t hurt you.”

Closing her eyes, she lifted a hand and wiped at her face. _Thank god,_ she kept repeating in her head. _Thank god, oh thank god._

“But I don’t understand…” she sighed, feeling incredibly tired. “How is it we have a twelve-year-old daughter?”

Naruto sighed. “I can’t explain that to you,” he repeated from earlier, “only Sasuke can. I’m sorry, I don’t know the specifics of your relationship with him back then. Only you two do. Well, I guess only Sasuke knows now.”

“I wish I remembered,” she mumbled miserably, scooting herself backward onto the bed and lowering her head back down against the pillows. “I wish I…” she paused abruptly, glancing at her ring finger on her left hand. Finding it bare she looked up at him, a question in her eyes.

“Yeah, you two’re married.”

Letting out a long breath of air she lifted her hands, rubbing her eyes with her palms. “I don’t know why I’m so upset,” she muttered, “well, that’s not true I guess. But… but I should be happier right?” She laughed bitterly. “I’m finally married to Sasuke. I have kids with him. But how the hell am I supposed to forget about what he did—what he tried to do—to me.”

“I don’t know,” he spoke softly, looking away, “But you and Sasuke figured it out once. I know that you can do it again. At least until you get your memories back.” He patted the bed a few times, smiling at her gently before standing up. “How about this, I let you rest today and in the morning we talk some more. You don’t need to see Sasuke any time soon if you don’t feel comfortable. Even if you want to wait until your memories back, that’s alright. You don’t have to go anywhere near him until that happens.”

“But—but what about my… my kids?” It felt like such a strange question as it rolled off her tongue. “What about them? I can’t just leave them, can I? I’m their _mother_.”

“I’m sure Sasuke can handle it.”

“No,” she spoke firmly. But before Naruto could speak again, she shook her head. “No, it’s not that I don’t trust him or anything, but I… I can’t just avoid them all. I think,” she bit the inside of her cheek and inhaled deeply, “I need to talk to him.”

“Sakura-chan, you don’t—“

“I _want_ to see him,” she spoke louder, staring at Naruto with a firm glare. As much as that statement was a lie, and as terrified as she was at the thought of seeing him—despite the fresh memory of their attempts on each other’s lives—she knew she _had_ to. Even if just for the sake of the children she’d never met.

“Okay,” Naruto nodded once, rocking back and forth on his feet, “so, when do you want to see him? I can have him stop by tomorrow morning if you want, after you get some rest.”

“No, I need to talk to him before that. Like, now.”

Naruto’s eyebrows shot up, “Sakura, don’t you think you should give yourself some time—”

“By the time it takes you to get him, I’ll be ready.” It was a lie, but she forced the words out anyways.

The Hokage looked uneasy suddenly, “Well, the thing is… he’s kind of, sort of, already here.”

“What? Why?” She asked bluntly.

“Because you’re his wife,” he laughed, giving her a gentle but slightly teasing look. “He’s hardly left since we moved you into this room. Your kids are with Hinata; they’ve been at my place all week.”

“Okay,” she breathed out slowly before inhaling deeply. _That’s right_ , she thought in an attempt to calm herself down, _breathe in and out, you’ll be okay, it’s alright_. But she’d never been good at lying.

Even to herself.

“Go get him,” she spoke with false confidence. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.”

Naruto didn’t speak any more, only offering her one more tired look before nodding and turning away, promptly exiting the room.

Hardly two minutes had passed before she heard it, a light tapping on the door. Was he knocking? She waited a few more seconds before she heard the sound again, a little louder this time. He was probably under the impression she hadn’t heard it, not knowing that she was struggling to find any words.

“Come in.” She tried to speak loudly, but it came out as a meek call.

When the door slowly opened, she couldn’t tear her eyes away as he slipped through the doorway, softly closing the door behind him before turning toward her.

Meeting his dark eyes, she shivered involuntarily. _You’re okay_ , she reminded herself, _you’re alright._

“Sakura,” he exhaled her name, the relief carrying through the single word.

“Hi,” she spoke in a raspy voice, trying to keep from flinching back at the sound of his deep baritone.

“Is this okay?” He spoke after several long seconds of standing by the door. “Or do you want me to come back?”

“No,” she spoke, a little too quickly, “don’t. I have to talk to you. I… I have to know everything.”

With careful steps he approached, grabbing a chair and pulling towards her bed. He made sure to keep a few feet between them, and Sakura appreciated the gesture.

“I don’t think I can tell you everything,” he spoke quietly, never once taking his eyes off of her. “But I can tell you what you need to know right now.”

Sakura laughed dryly, “I… I need to know everything! I need to know what’s going on! I just… I need to know how we have a twelve year old when I’m apparently only _twenty-nine_! I need to know why you tried to kill me! I need to know how to get my memories back!” She was speaking too fast and gasping for breath in between statements, trying hard to hold herself together. “I need to know how _this_ happened!” Lifting a hand, she gestured between the two of them.

“That’s a lot of things, Sakura.”

“And I need to know all of them.” She defended quickly.

“I’ll tell you,” he spoke, as if trying to subdue her steadily rising anger, “but it’s going to take a while. More than just a conversation. More than just a day or a week.”

“I want to meet them,” she blurted out suddenly, “I want to see Katahana and… and Souta.”

He looked at her carefully, as if he didn’t know that Naruto had told her about the kids. “When you decide to come home, they’ll be there.”

 _Home_ , the word scared her. Knowing that she shared a home and a life with Sasuke should have made her feeling on top of the world, but it only frightened her. Upon their encounter in Iron Country, the universe had scared her wildest dreams out of her, then picked them up and forced them into her unwilling arms, and now she hardly knew how to react.

She looked up at him, noting his tired eyes and sad expression. Her heart clenched at the sight; he was just as beautiful as he’d ever been. Maybe even more so—no, _definitely_ more handsome.

She loved him. That was still certain. But _god_ , was she scared of what she was going to find out.

Sakura had built a life together with Uchiha Sasuke and didn’t remember a single thing about it. There was no stopping the tears once they began.

“I’m sorry,” she cried, her words starting off as whimpers, “I’m sorry Sasuke-kun, I’m sorry. I wish I could remember. I’m so sorry, Sasuke-kun.” She was so incredibly tired. And before she could stop herself, she was sobbing.

He reached out hesitantly, but stopped before his hand could touch her own, as if reminding himself to stay at a distance.

Sakura didn’t think—didn’t even allow herself to—when she grabbed his hand and held it tightly with both of hers, still letting apology after apology spill forth from her lips. Lifting his hand she brought it to her face, leaning her forehead against the top of his hand. “I’m scared,” she confessed, “I’m sorry, Sasuke-kun, I’m just scared.”

To her surprise, he didn’t pull away, but she had to remind herself that they were technically married. They’d done much more than hold hands, and they had the children to prove it.

Inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly, she gripped his hand tightly, the warmth of him reminding her that this was real. This was her Sasuke-kun. The monster that he had started turning into was gone. (Or so she hoped.)

This was the boy she’d fallen in love with and the man she’d apparently started a life with.

When he turned his hand slightly so that his palm was resting against her cheek, she was proud of herself when she didn’t flinch away, and even prouder when she didn’t panic as he began to sweep his thumbs across her cheeks, wiping away the tears that were falling. The adrenaline coursing through her body was helping her to keep her composure, and she hoped that she wouldn’t lose her nerve any time soon.

 _It’s okay,_ she thought to herself, _it’s safe, it’s okay. I’m safe. I’m okay. He’s not going to hurt me. He’s not going to kill me. I’m okay. I’m safe._

Now all she had to do was convince herself of this.

 

**Author's Note:**

> For those who have yet to read Changing Skies, I'll be slowly adding it to this site over the course of the month. Chapters 1-3 should be up by tonight and new chapters will be added daily until the entire story is posted. NCTS chapters will resume regular posting once all of Changing Skies is fully published.
> 
> For those who have read CS, welcome to it's sequel. Things will make more sense as the story goes on. I hope you enjoy it.


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